With “Don’t Worry Darling” star Florence Pugh arriving late to Venice and Shia LaBeouf leaking texts to trade magazines, Olivia Wilde tried to get anyone to talk about her new movie instead of behind-the-scenes drama.
The director held down the fort at the Venice Film Festival Monday, accompanied by co-star and boyfriend Harry Styles, Chris Pine and Gemma Chan, to unveil her psychological thriller. But all anyone wanted was scandal.
“As for all the endless tabloid gossip and all the noise out there, I mean, the internet feeds itself,” the sophomore director said during a press conference, according to the Hollywood Reporter.
“I don’t feel the need to contribute. I think it’s sufficiently well nourished.”
The rampant speculation about problems on the set of “Don’t Worry Darling” has been fast and furious: first, that Pugh and Wilde began fighting when the director started dating Styles, then that the “Black Widow” actress was making a paltry salary compared to her co-star.
Wilde has denied all of it, and to defend herself, said that she fired LaBeouf — who was replaced by Styles — to keep Pugh “safe” from his “combative behavior.”
Last month, LaBeouf said that he was the one who had quit “due to lack of rehearsal time.”
“You and I both know the reasons for my exit. I quit your film because your actors and I couldn’t find time to rehearse,” he allegedly emailed Wilde, according to messages he sent to Variety.
He also leaked a video from Wilde to the trade magazine from August 2020, in which the director blamed Pugh for on-set issues.
“I feel like I’m not ready to give up on this yet, and I, too, am heartbroken and I want to figure this out,” Wilde said.
“You know, I think this might be a bit of a wake-up call for Miss Flo, and I want to know if you’re open to giving this a shot with me, with us. If she really commits, if she really puts her mind and heart into it at this point and if you guys can make peace — and I respect your point of view, I respect hers — but if you guys can do it, what do you think? Is there hope? Will you let me know?”
A few months after that alleged video, LaBeouf was sued by ex-girlfriend FKA Twigs for sexual battery, assault, and infliction of emotional distress.
Staff at the Venice Film Festival shut down questions about LaBeouf Monday, but Wilde did get to give a flowing speech about Pugh, who missed the press conference but will attend the movie’s premiere.
“I’m so grateful that she’s able to make it tonight despite being in production on ‘Dune,'” Wilde said. “I know as a director how disruptive it is to lose an actor even for a day. So I’m very grateful to her and grateful to Denis Villeneuve for helping us. And we’re really thrilled we’ll get to celebrate her work tonight. I can’t say enough how honored I am to have her as our lead. She’s amazing in the film.”
